


5 Times Sabrina Should've Been Called Out

by MadamLilith



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: 5 Times, Catharsis, Fix-It, Season 3, ambrose being his same awesome self, aunties actually parenting, lilith finally exploding, people actually caring about mary wardwell, roz being a good friend and an even better student, theo standing up to sabrina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23350258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamLilith/pseuds/MadamLilith
Summary: Welcome to My Fix-It Fic! These scenes are independent from each other, inserted within the canon of season 3.1. Hilda and Zelda call out Sabrina for victim blaming Lilith.2. Roz calls out Sabrina for not trying to help Ms. Wardwell.3. Theo calls out Sabrina for interrupting their band practice.4. Lilith calls out Sabrina for betraying her to take the throne.5. Ambrose calls out Sabrina for forgetting that she left Ms. Wardwell tied up.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 37





	5 Times Sabrina Should've Been Called Out

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @averita for the beta.

**1\. “In Her Shoes”**

Sewing needles stuck in pincushions, loose thread, and strips of old drapes covered most surfaces of the sitting room in the Spellman house. Sabrina helped Hilda organize the chaos by folding fabric not in use, and gathering spare thread into piles by color. 

“I know we’re obviously not worshiping the Dark Lord anymore.” Sabrina broke Hilda’s focused silence. “But Lilith can’t be the answer either.” 

“What gave you that idea, love?” 

“Auntie Z’s been talking about her a lot more lately.” Sabrina crawled up from her spot on the rug to sit on the couch next to Hilda. “I just don’t think she’s worthy. I mean, she spent her whole life taking orders from him, doing his bidding and never questioned it. She still served him even after he became a monster.” 

“Well, love, you have to put yourself in her shoes.” Hilda inched closer to Sabrina on the sofa. 

“I asked her a few months ago, you know. I asked her why. All she said was that it was all she’s ever known. How is that an excuse?!” 

“It’s not an excuse, Sabrina.” Zelda straightened her spine, perched on the threshold of the sitting room, book in hand, and took a drag from her cigarette. “You say it like she’s to blame for being abused.” 

Her scolding tone hitched with a flicker of pain behind her eyes as she crossed to sit on the other side of Sabrina. 

“People will do all sorts of desperate things when they’re isolated, darling.” Hilda interjected. “Gaslighting is much easier in seclusion.” She took Sabrina’s hand in both of hers. “You know, like the way Blackwood waited until your Auntie Z was away on their honeymoon before putting the Calag--”

“Hilda, please.” Zelda warned her, but it came out more like a beg than she intended. 

Hilda paused to choose her words more carefully. 

“That’s why it’s important to keep our friends and family close and to have each other’s backs. To remind us of who we are and in case we forget, how we deserve to be treated.” Hilda eyed Zelda. A flicker of an approving smile softened her sister’s face. 

“You’ll find, even the strongest witches can fall prey to abusers looking to tame their wild power to satisfy their own egos,” Zelda added, forcing a detached tone.

Hilda nodded, squeezing Sabrina’s hand to emphasize her agreement.

“Lilith didn’t have anyone.” Zelda steeled herself. “She was vulnerable. She was the only witch, the only woman on earth.” She placed the book she had been holding on her lap to allow Sabrina to read the cover.

“ _ Lilith, Removed _ ?” Sabrina asked.

“I think you’ll find this illuminating.” Zelda opened the dogeared and water stained pages, the spine crackling with the stretch of time. Fresh notes in the margins swallowed much of the text. This was clearly an old book from the Academy, with Zelda’s handwriting. 

“This is the closest literature to a character study you’ll find on her. I far prefer it to the patriarchal nonsense you’ll find in many texts.” 

Hilda nestled into the pillow behind her while Zelda cleared her throat, flipped the pages a few chapters in and began reading aloud.

_ A Singular Being _

_ It started when she walked away. _

_ When the gates began to close behind her bare feet, the shiver of freedom raced up her spine. The world was barren, a wasteland of rock and dirt as far as her eyes could see.  _

_ So far from the garden of lush flora and fecund soil. Far from the humid morning mists and birds of paradise. Far from abundant fruit and tumbling water. Far from Adam, her only equal in the universe. Far from her creator, her home, the very soil which birthed her, the only world she’d ever known.  _

_ It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, the world beyond the walls, completely devoid of green. Dry air whipped cool grey sand in cyclones, whistling across open planes of bedrock. The sun was low and sinister, a blood orange on the horizon of an expansive sky.  _

_ She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, feeling only the sting of sand across her ankles and the heat of tears slipping down her cheeks. She was free. Free from subjugation, free from Adam’s entitlement to her body, free from God’s hypocrisy and betrayal.  _

_ The gates then locked behind her, sending a tremor through the ground beneath her feet and into her heart. She was alone.  _

_ She could not turn back. She could not beg for forgiveness from God. She would not. Perhaps God would see her determination now. Perhaps he would see his error in creating Adam. For how could a creature so cruel be purposeful? Perhaps he would force Adam to relent and beg for her forgiveness.  _

_ If he did, what would she do?  _

_ Make him suffer, perhaps.  _

_ She spent weeks foraging for food, sleeping under an overhang of rock, wondering if the day she fantasized about would ever come.  _

_ She thought today was that day. Lilith finally found herself face to face with two angels. She scoffed that Adam was too scared to come himself.  _

_ “Come with us,” one told her. “We cannot force you, but God has granted you mercy if you return.”  _

_ “Mercy? And what of Adam?”  _

_ “If you repent before Adam, he will take you back as his wife.”  _

_ Shock struck Lilith like thousands of hot needles pricking her gut. The heat spread like wildfire up to her neck and cheeks.  _

_ “REPENT?! I have NOTHING to repent for! HE should be asking for MY forgiveness!”  _

_ “If you do not, you will be shown no mercy,” the other warned. “You will never be accepted back into the garden. You will never again feel God’s warmth. You will suffer out here in the wasteland alone. Your womb will be cursed with demons only.”  _

_ “Just leave me,” Lilith turned away despondently. “I would rather bear a thousand demons than one son of Adam.”  _

_ And with that, she was once again alone. _

_ Where did she belong if not with Adam, in her birthplace, on the very soil she grew from? _

_ She was the only woman in the world. The first. The first witch, too. Every discovery, every lesson, every spell, she made and learned and cast first. With no one to show her the way, no mother to guide her, no coven to protect her, she pioneered the wasteland. She survived a free woman. _

_ But she was lonely. She was desperate to belong somewhere, with someone to bear witness to her existence.  _

_ So years later, when the morningstar fell in his angelic form, Lilith was stunned. This celestial creature, wingless, bloody, and bitter, took solace in her lap. She healed his wounds, and held his beautiful head in her hands. She curled his golden hair around her fingers. She hummed sweet songs of the desert. Her desire for a companion was met with a promise of kinship, of passion, and hope that she may finally belong. Not to someone, but with someone. So she stayed with him.  _

_ They lay together. She bore his demon children. He led her to Hell, to claim it as his own, with her by his side.  _

_ He manipulated every heartstring she layed in his hand.  _

_ He used. He stole. He lied.  _

_ His corruption started at his foot, slowly, until it took over his entire form. He became a monster, and he blamed her. He took his rage out on her. He was no longer capable of love or compassion. He raped. He took. He used--  _

Zelda’s voice hitched. She cleared her throat and dabbed at a tear that betrayed her eye down her cheek. 

Zelda had found this book in a pile in Foustus’s office. It was tucked in a corner next to the fireplace along with several other seemingly empowering texts for witches and upon further inspection, she found chard remnants of books in his fireplace. He must have been purging the library in secret. 

This one in particular caught her eye, because she had just met Lilith in person for the first time, yet she didn’t recognise the title. Curiosity turned into fixation. She had been pouring over this book for a month, reading it cover to cover three times, noting important passages, comparing it with other texts in her library. 

But this was the first time she’d read the words out loud, and they carried even more weight being shared with other witches. She quickly continued before anyone could interrupt her. 

_ He raped. He took. He used. He blamed. _

_ She stayed.  _

_ She stayed until she didn’t recognize herself anymore. How could she, with such integrity and conviction, fall prey to another cruel male? Centuries of being told that she was a lesser being, a being of the earth, not divine like Lucifer, but that he chose her to do his bidding, made her truly believe she was special. Not too special, but just special enough to hope.  _

_ She was so ashamed with herself and her weakness that she stayed out of pride, unwilling to admit that she had let herself become subservient no longer to a celestial being, but a grotesque monster inside and out. Was this worse than if she had stayed subservient to her equal? She could not bear to ask herself.  _

_ Unwilling to walk away into another recognisable world - again, alone. This time with the devil at her back, clawing for vengeance at her betrayal. There would be no mercy for her. She stayed out of self-preservation and the hope that she could earn the power she knew she deserved. _

“So I hope you’ll reserve your self-righteous judgement next time you cross paths with Lilith.” Zelda snapped the book shut for emphasis. “She is not mortal, nor demon, nor divine. She is the only being in the universe like herself. The only one with her story. She has suffered for longer than you can imagine. She has been without hope and without peer. You’ll do best to remember that, and remember that her only teacher in life has been the Dark Lord himself. So while she may have suffered at his hand, she is not to be underestimated or belittled. Understand?”

“Yes, Auntie,” Sabrina piped up sheepishly the way she used to when Zelda scolded her as a child. 

“Can...can I borrow that?” She motioned to the book. 

Zelda smirked, eyeing Hilda. “Please do.” 

* * *

  
**2\. “Ms. Wardwell is Not Okay”**

As students began filing into Ms. Wardwell’s classroom after lunch period, Roz was struck by a strong sense memory. The air in the room was dense with the familiar scent of chalk and old textbooks. The fierce wind whipped small, cold rain droplets against the large windows of the classroom. Dark clouds masked any sense of daylight. She would have thought it was 5 o’clock if she hadn’t just eaten lunch. While Theo and Harvey made their way to their seats discussing their next cover song, Roz hovered by the door, transported to a day similar to this, years ago, when she was just a little girl no more than five.

Her father had taken her to the high school one rainy afternoon much like this one so that he could lead a memorial service for a beloved teacher. Roz wandered off during the service, entranced by the long hallways of tall, skinny lockers and pretty Saint Patrick’s day decorations. Green construction paper cut out in the shape of clovers covered many classroom doors, and her father’s booming voice became fainter as she continued. 

She noticed a piece of green paper at her feet and reached down to pick it up, but she realized she wasn’t alone. She saw a woman sitting at a large desk inside the classroom. The woman sniffled and smiled at her, motioning for her to come in. 

Roz tentatively approached her desk, paper clover in hand. 

“Hi. I’m Mary, “ the woman said. “You must be Miss Walker.” 

She nodded. “What are you doing here?” Roz asked. 

Ms. Wardwell exhaled, lips curling in a surprised smile, “Well, I was about to ask you the same question, young lady. I’m sure your father wouldn’t want you wandering off too far.” 

“Did you get bored too?”

“Oh, no. I just needed a moment to myself. I don’t like crying in front of people.”

Ms. Wardwell’s eyes were glistening, but her sweet smile was so warm. 

“Why not?” Roz asked with child-like shamelessness. 

“I...I’m not sure. I guess I don’t want to be a nuisance-- I mean, I don’t want anyone to worry about me.” 

“Are you okay?” 

At that, the woman chuckled in delight. “Aren’t you sweet? Yes, Miss Walker, I’m fine.” Her expression fell toward honesty. “I just miss my friend.”

“It’s okay to be sad.” Roz took the woman’s hand and placed the paper clover in it.

Ms. Wardwell seemed to melt right in front of her before straightening up and replying in a very teacherly tone, “You’re absolutely right. It is okay to be sad. And it’s okay to show people you’re sad. And it’s okay to ask for help.” 

Ms. Wardwell turned in her chair toward one of her drawers, opened it, and pulled something out. Roz was intrigued, but couldn’t see what it was. Ms. Wardwell slid off her chair and knelt down in front of the little girl. She opened her hand to reveal a four leaf clover in a tiny clear box - a  _ real _ four leaf clover. At least, it looked real. 

“Is it real?” Roz asked excitedly.

“It is,” Mary replied. “I found it when I was traveling years ago. It’s very good luck. I want you to have it.” Roz looked up at her in gleeful surprise. “As a thank you for being such a good friend to me.” Roz hugged the woman she had just met, relishing in her warmth and the musky floral scent of her perfume. 

Roz snapped back to the present when she noticed that same scent waft in from the hallway. 

“Ms. Walker, please take your seat.” 

Roz gathered her surroundings and complied. 

Throughout class, she began to notice little things about Ms. Wardwell: how quickly she tried to rush through her lesson, the way she toyed with her cross necklace, the furrow of her brow, how easily distracted she seemed to be, and her curt, clipped responses. She seemed irritable and distracted. 

At one point when all was silent, Roz looked up from her assigned reading to see Ms. Wardwell’s gaze focused on Sabrina. But she wasn’t really looking at her, more like looking past her. Her stare was distant, her eyes hazy and glistening, yet expressionless. 

The class bell startled both Ms. Wardwell staring at Sabrina and Roz staring at Ms. Wardwell, and both women jolted in their seats. 

After students filed out of class, Roz left her things at her desk and walked up to Ms. Wardwell. Her teacher tried to gather herself, shifting in her seat and clearing her throat. 

“Ms. Wardwell?” Roz murmured. 

“Mmm?” Ms. Wardwell responded, pretending to be interested in the papers she was shuffling on her desk haphazardly. 

“Ms. Wardwell,” Roz repeated, more confidently, as she reached out to warmly grasp her teacher’s jittery hand in reassurance. 

The cunning had a way of catching her off guard. The same way you feel your stomach ascend to another dimension when your foot misses a step going down the stairs - and this one felt like two missed steps. 

_ Ms. Wardwell falling backwards into darkness, reaching up toward - she couldn’t tell what.  _

_ Blood pooling on a hardwood floor.  _

_ A ring pulled out of the woman’s mouth.  _

_ A raging fire.  _

_ Horned beasts and grabbing claws and blood and bile. _

_ A feast of rotting flesh.  _

_ A handsome man’s head on a platter.  _

_ And crying - no - wailing. The sound of agony - Ms. Wardwell in agony. Not in physical pain, but pain that digs itself deep into your soul and fractures you into irreparable pieces.  _

_ A lifeless hand next to an empty bottle of sleeping pills.  _

As she came to, Ms. Wardwell’s concerned face hovered over her. She was on the ground. She must have fainted. 

“Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

Roz said nothing, just reached out with both arms to pull her favorite teacher into a firm hug. Ms. Wardwell almost fell over, but managed to steady herself. She whispered reassuring phrases about how everything would be all right and how she was here for her, until she stopped talking entirely and let Roz just hang onto her. 

After a moment, Ms. Wardwell sighed a deep, sorrowful sigh. They held onto each other for a long while until Roz pulled away and took her teacher’s weary face in her hands. 

“I’m sorry you can’t remember what happened to you. I want to help you.”

Ms. Wardwell looked surprised by her student’s genuine concern. 

Roz took both hands in hers, “But I need to know if you really want to know, even if it’s too horrible to believe.” 

Her teacher’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded affirmatively. “Ignorance has not been remotely blissful.” She sniffled. “I’ll take the truth.” 

“And I’ll get it for you.” Roz squeezed her hands and smiled. 

***

“Sabrina!” Roz yelled down the hallway. Her friend turned, platinum hair bouncing with glee. 

“Hey, Roz! Theo and I were just talking about that time --”

“Not now, Sabrina. I need to talk to you.” Her jaw clenched, “Seriously.” 

“Whoa. Okay, What’s wrong?” 

“Not here.” Roz pulled Sabrina by the wrist into the library, dragging her to a quiet corner and looking her square in the face. “You have to tell Ms. Wardwell,” she ordered in a firm whisper.

“What? No way! I am not opening that can of worms. No, thank you!” 

“Brina? I’m telling you, you have to. Ms. Wardwell is not okay. I had a vision.” Sabrina’s eyes rolled. “Don’t roll your eyes at me!” Roz’s voice raised a bit too high and she caught herself. 

“What I saw-- what Ms. Wardwell is living with…”

“What did you see?”

“She’s traumatized. She’s barely keeping it together. She has no idea what happened to her, but she feels like she’s going crazy. She’s tormented with truly hellish images. This is way beyond PTSD.”

“How am I supposed to fix it? It’s not even my fault!” 

“Brina, listen! I’m not sure how many of them are real or Lilith’s or hers or the future-- all I know is, if you don’t tell her the truth, we could lose her...  _ again _ .” 

Sabrina’s defensiveness softened with a heavy sigh. 

“Why me? Why not you?” 

“Brina.” Roz said nothing more, just raised an disapproving eyebrow. 

Sabrina looked at her for a long moment, arms crossed defiantly, wheels turning. 

“Yeah, I know,” Sabrina finally relented. “I can’t tell her the truth without outing myself, and it wouldn’t be right to put that burden on you. I get it.”

Roz sighed with sweet relief. 

“I’ll do it,” Sabrina all but promised. 

Roz hugged her tightly. 

“Then I’ll go with you, if you want?” 

* * *

**3\. “We’re Just** **_Mortals_ ** **, Right?”**

_ Yeah I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby!  _

_ Yeah I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby!  _

_ Listen to iron m-- _

“Guys. Guys!” Sabrina appeared in the garage, a giant illuminated book in her arms. Theo, Roz, and Harvey startled, music halting. “Crisis Fright Club meeting.”

In a surge of adrenaline, Theo tossed his drum sticks onto the snare drum in a clatter. “Dude! Seriously?” 

“Yes.” 

Getting off his stool, Theo sped around Harvey to stand in front of Sabrina. He was much smaller than his friends, but his frustration peaked with Sabrina locked in his glare. 

“This better be an immediate crisis, Sabrina. Like ‘the world is ending again’ kind of crisis. ‘Cause if you tell us you need help with something that could have waited 2 more minutes…? I don’t even know what.” 

“Sorry,” Sabrina said without an ounce of apology in her tone. It was the kind of sorry that really says,  _ I’m sorry you’re being weird, I’ve done nothing wrong _ , causing Theo’s blood to boil. 

“No, you’re not!” 

Harvey and Roz were stunned to silence. 

“This is the second time you’ve interrupted our practice without even waiting for us to finish the song! You’re so self-centered, you don’t even see how rude you’re being! You think everything just revolves around you and your problems! Nothing we do really matters, like you’re so much better than us!”

“I don’t think that!”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself. Of course you do! We’re just  _ mortals _ , right? And I don’t know, maybe it’s true, maybe we aren’t as important as whatever you’re doing, cause we don’t have magical powers. But this is really hard!” Theo gestured to their band setup behind him. “We’ve been practicing all week and this is our first full-out runthrough of this song.” 

Sabrina glanced back to Roz and Harvey, and Theo’s eyes followed. Both friends looked sheepish but neither stepped in to calm Theo down. He knew they agreed with him.

“And we’re good, Brina. We’re really good.” Theo smiled at his bandmates, then turned to face Sabrina again. “You’d know that if you stopped for one second to actually listen and support us and act like you care.” Theo’s anger turned to hurt. 

A long pause hung in the air until...

“I’m sorry, Theo.” He could tell she meant it that time. She embraced him in a tight squeeze. “Sorry guys,” she said to her two friends over Theo’s shoulder. 

“Do you want to start over, and we can have a Fright Club meeting after?” 

“No, it’s fine -” Well it wasn’t  _ fine, _ he thought, but he’d said his piece. “It’s too late now. Just tell us what’s up.” 

* * *

**4\. “Our Throne”**

“Look, if you’re here to drag Nick back to hell, you should know that--”

“No no, I’m here as your regent, to begin your job training.” They reached a clearing in the woods for Lilith to show Sabrina the book of souls. 

“Job training?” Sabrina’s raised eyebrows implied that either she thought she already knew how to do the job or worse, that she didn’t know being queen was a job at all. “Doing what exactly?” 

“Why, the devil’s work of course.” Lilith hated being relegated to satanic fairy godmother, but did love that superior feeling she got when teaching Sabrina. “Your work now. We’re starting light. Today there are only two souls to drag to hell.” 

“What? I have to drag souls to hell?” 

_ Some divine being please have mercy on me with this infantile halfwit. _ Lilith steeled her facade. 

“No. No way. I’m not condemning anyone to that place.” 

“They condemned themselves. You’re simply completing transactions your father began,” Lilith explained with as much control as she could muster. “As for  _ that place _ , I’ll advise you not to refer to the realm you just declared yourself queen of with such disdain; it is unbecoming, and the hoards will see right through you.” 

Sabrina rolled her eyes, stoking Lilith’s fire even more. 

“Dragging souls is your primary duty as leader of hell. And it’s vitally important that  _ you _ carry it out, because the kings of hell and their darkly handsome little prince Caliban are watching you and waiting for you to fail, and if you fail, you’ll lose our throne to Caliban.”

“ _ Our _ throne?” Sabrina interrupted, putting Lilith on her back foot. 

She inhaled, straightening her spine.  _ That’s it. _

“Yes.  _ Our _ throne,” Lilith snapped. “The throne you fought against taking, the one you said countless times that you didn’t want, the throne you tricked the Dark Lord himself into thinking you would accept so that you could trap him and your handsome little boyfriend into playing a game of soul-leapfrog to avoid taking. Yes,  _ that _ throne!” Lilith’s voice raged ever louder with each phrase as she stepped forward, towering over the brat in her stupid cheerleader uniform, tears welling in both of their eyes. Sabrina began backing away slowly into the brush. 

“The throne you happily gave to me - TWICE! Because you knew that I had been working for it for  _ thousands _ of years, and you couldn’t care less about it!” 

Lilith dug a pointed finger into Sabrina’s chest, pushing her against a tree. She was at full tilt, wind rushed through the trees in the forest surrounding them in a cyclone of leaves and twigs and feminine fury. 

“THE THRONE YOU THEN TURNED ON A DIME TO TAKE AS YOUR OWN WITH NO EXPLANATION OR REMORSE FOR STABBING ME IN THE BACK AFTER RESTORING ALL OF YOUR POWERS!”

Controlled Lilith. Patient Lilith. Compliant Lilith. Obedient Lilith. Loyal Lilith. Where had it gotten her? Here. Right here. In a storm of resentment. Taking centuries of abuse and self-loathing and disappointment and betrayal out on a 16 year old girl. And she couldn’t stop herself, because she hated Sabrina. She hated her for being what she never knew Lucifer always wanted. She hated herself for not seeing any of this coming, for not paying more attention to the prophecy, for letting Lucifer manipulate her into making this happen, and for taking it out on a teenager instead of the one being she knew she couldn’t take it out on but desperately wanted to. 

“I GAVE YOU YOUR FREEDOM! I GAVE YOU YOUR POWERS BACK! ALL of them! I gave you your teacher back! I gave you your boyfriend back!” 

Lilith’s spike of rage had dissipated, and with it the majority of the gail force winds scraping brush and branches against their bodies. Both women were disheveled, clothing tattered, hair a mess, and a bit bloodied. 

“I gave you everything you asked for,” Lilith wept. “All I asked from you was the throne I  _ earned _ .” She grabbed Sabrina earnestly by the shoulders. She didn’t know if she was going to squeeze her to death, hug her or just brace her body against her for stability. Instead, she straightened her spine. She cleared her expression of any sorrow that had sunk in and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“I should have expected this,” Lilith muttered, and turned away from the shaken girl. 

“I don’t know why I ever trusted you, the daughter of the great deceiver, Lucifer Morningstar himself.” She threw her arms up in the air with something like levity, and turned to face Sabrina with a frightening smile. She watched as Sabrina Morningstar, Satan’s sword, shivered in fear in front of her. 

She stepped deliberately closer to the girl with each of her next few malicious words. 

_ “ _ Of course you would turn out to be  _ just... like... him _ .” 

She knew she wasn’t wrong, and that’s what made the moment taste so sweet in her mouth. No matter what Sabrina said next, it didn’t matter. Lilith was riding a high of ruthless vindication. 

But Sabrina didn’t speak. For what felt like the first time ever. And it started to give Lilith pause, which made her quite uncomfortable. She shifted her weight from one heeled foot to another, raising her eyebrows. She wanted Sabrina to fight her at least a little. The silence was aggravating, until--

“I didn’t want it,” Sabrina whispered through her tears. “At least, I didn’t think I did.” 

“Then  _ why _ did you take it?”

“I-- Nick...when we were in Pandamonium, I saw him and my father fighting. At least I think I saw him. I was in his head somehow.” Sabrina sniffled, finding her courage again. “He said that I needed to take the throne to save Nick.” 

Lilith chuckled with one of her biggest eye rolls yet. 

“And you believed him.” 

“Yes,” Sabrina admitted sheepishly. Lilith sighed. 

“Stupid girl.” Sabrina looked offended, but Lilith continued. “We both are. I believed him too.” 

The two women smiled at each other for the first time in a long time. After a long pause...

“Lilith?” Sabrina reached out to grab Lilith’s hand. Lilith was at first surprised and slightly suspicious at the contact after just exploding at this child. 

“This was the worst job training I’ve ever had,” Sabrina looked up at her, smile creeping on her face. 

“Yes, well. The truth is, you need to do these tasks as queen. If you don’t, the Kings of Hell and Caliban will take the throne. Then he’ll declare war on this realm you care so very much for. Now see here,” Lilith points to a name in the book on the altar. “Name, expiration date, time, and place. You’ll escort the souls by hand and the path to hell will present itself to you in an appropriate fashion. It’s all very simple.”

“Robert Robertson?” Sabrina peers up at Lilith in disbelief. “Really? Is this a joke? What’d this guy do?”

“Besides have the worst name on Earth? It doesn’t matter. He sold his soul. You’re there to collect. Not befriend him.”

* * *

**5\. “Fixing your messes. As usual.”**

“Hey cuz-”

“Ambrose, if you’re gonna keep scolding me for something that you can’t even prove to me is bad-” 

“Actually, I was going to ask you a question, but now that you mention it, yes, I am going to keep scolding you for  _ creating a time paradox _ !” Ambrose’s voice was strained to the breaking point while keeping a hushed tone so as not to alert their aunties. 

“It behooves me to never stop scolding you for that until you admit that you can’t always bulldoze the very fabric of the universe into getting your way, because - and I promise you - it will bite back. Chaotically,  _ viciously _ .” 

Sabrina’s eyes rolled and her heels followed, twisting her to turn away from her cousin. She began up the stairs, but stopped suddenly. 

“Wait, I thought you had a question.” 

It took a moment for Ambrose to temper his brewing fury and regain his previous thought.

“Right.” He closed the gap between them, looking up to Sabrina two steps above him and regained his hushed tone. “I was just wondering, how were you able to keep Mary Wardwell away from the carnival? Does she remember anything about what she did to Auntie Z? Did you ask her why? Cause I had a dream last night--” 

“Oh!” Sabrina’s tone was pleasantly surprised. She seemed almost happy to share with Ambrose her devilish wit in getting Ms. Wardwell out of the way. “I didn’t have time to ask her; I was too busy tying her up so she couldn’t sneak off. But I made sure she forgot any talk of witches in Greendale. She won’t remember a thing.” 

“Good. But--”

“Why? What do you mean you had a dream? About what?”

“I think Ms. Wardwell might have been under the same beetle spell as Agatha and Auntie Z. I had a dream that the Dark Lord visited her. And it was telltale, cuz, I know it. She had no idea what she was doing and no reason for it. It was all him getting back at Zelda for betraying him.” 

“That...actually makes a lot of sense.” 

“Sabrina, did you…?” Ambrose hesitated to utter the words, thereby giving them the weight of a possible reality. Instead, he joined her on the step so he was hovering above her to whisper in her ear. “Did you ever go back to--?” Sabrina’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“Unholy shit!” 

“Please tell me you didn’t leave her tied up there for days? Sabrina, she’s a mortal!” Sabrina didn’t hear the last, she was out the front door already. 

“And there she goes again.” Ambrose reflexively massaged his scalp in familiar frustration as he walked to the kitchen. 

“Ambrose? What was that about? What’s going on?” Zelda asked. 

“Not to worry Aunties, I’ll take care of it. As usual.” Ambrose raised his eyebrows as he picked up a tray of Hilda’s cookies and apparated. 

He appeared at the driveway of Mary Wardwell’s cottage and waited for Sabrina to come running up from the woods. 

She startled to a halt, breathless. “What are you doing?” she panted, hands on her knees. 

“Fixing your messes. As usual. Now follow me, and be quiet. Not a word.” 

Ambrose knocked on the front door to the cottage to nothing but a muffled, strangled call. 

“Ms. Wardwell?” He followed with a few more knocks, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get to the door. He heard a bit louder voice, but not discernable words. 

“Are you alright?” he asked and jiggled the handle of the door that Sabrina had left unlocked. He glared daggers at Sabrina while cracking the door a bit. Sabrina gestured to the door impatiently, but Ambrose remained calm and slow with his movements, holding a hand up to keep her from barging past him.

“It’s Ambrose and Sabrina. We’re coming in.” He announced so as not to startle the woman who was still tied to the chair in the living room, though now she was closer to the kitchen. Scratch marks from the chair legs lined the hardwood floor. She’d obviously been able to scoot herself closer to the phone than Sabrina had previously left her. Tears and sweat had soaked through the gag in her mouth and although her eyes were red and tired, they looked relieved. 

Ambrose feigned surprise, set the tray of cookies on the table near the door and rushed to the woman’s side to help unbind her arms. Sabrina followed quickly behind him. 

“Ms. Wardwell! Are you alright?” The woman tried to respond, but was still gagged. Sabrina hurriedly untied the fabric from her mouth. 

The woman coughed, the word  _ water _ barely escaping her lips. Sabrina rushed to the kitchen and filled a tall glass under the faucet. 

Ambrose had finished untying her legs when Sabrina returned. 

“Thank you,” Mary managed before gulping down the entire glass in one go. 

“Do you know what happened? Who did this to you?” Ambrose questioned, making sure Sabrina’s magic held. 

Mary just shook her head, fresh tears filling her eyes before letting out a sob. “No. I’ve been trying to remember. I just woke up like this-- I don’t know how long. I don’t know who or why.” 

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” 

Mary shook her head  _ no _ , but then slumped over crying in her hands. Ambrose inched closer, gently pulling the woman into an embrace, steadying himself to support this woman’s grief. “I just--why? Why does this keep happening to me?” She sniffled into his shoulder.

Ambrose shot a look at Sabrina, standing at the threshold of the kitchen, tears in her eyes.

“I don’t know, my dear.” He stroked the back of her head, staring at his cousin. “Whoever did this to you should be ashamed of themselves. It was careless and cruel, and you--”

“You didn’t deserve this-- any of this.” Sabrina approached them and knelt down to look her in the eye. She brushed her sweat-soaked bangs out of her face. “I’m so sorry.” Ambrose took a deep breath, still holding onto the woman. He could tell in her voice how much Sabrina really meant it. 

  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  



End file.
